Samoa's merchandise trade (% of GDP) was 38.12% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 14.05 percentage points from 52.17% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 38.12% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 40.17% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 52.17% | 2015 |
| Highest | 87.68% | 1992 |
| Lowest | 35.37% | 1971 |
| Average since 2016 | 46.2% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 42.03% | 1970 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Samoa's merchandise trade (% of GDP) fell 7.12 percentage points on 2024 (from 45.25% to 38.12%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.23 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.2 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 16.22 percentage points in 1979 and the biggest yearly fall was 44.94 percentage points in 1994. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 4% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2025, Samoa had the 144th highest value of the 188 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Samoa | 38.12% | 2025 |
| World | 43.89% | 2025 |
| East Asia & Pacific | 50.62% | 2025 |
| Upper middle income | 42.78% | 2025 |
Closest to Samoa in the 2025 ranking
- Dominica — 140th of 188: 39.1%
- Angola — 141st of 188: 38.84%
- Zimbabwe — 142nd of 188: 38.7%
- United Kingdom — 144th of 188: 37.59%
- St. Kitts and Nevis — 145th of 188: 37.52%
- Nepal — 146th of 188: 36.73%
What this measures
General merchandise trade includes goods whose economic ownership is changed between a resident and a non-resident and that are not included in the following specific categories: goods under merchanting, non-monetary gold, and parts of travel, construction, and government goods and services n.i.e. It is the total of merchandise exports plus merchandise imports. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 56 values
| Year | Merchandise trade (% of GDP) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 38.12 |
| 2024 | 45.25 |
| 2023 | 49.38 |
| 2022 | 54.86 |
| 2021 | 46.18 |
| 2020 | 40.17 |
| 2019 | 48.2 |
| 2018 | 46.56 |
| 2017 | 45.21 |
| 2016 | 48.11 |
| 2015 |
Merchandise trade (% of GDP) in nearby economies
- American Samoa — 117.68% (2022)
- Australia — 36.04% (2025)
- Brunei Darussalam — 109.99% (2025)
- Cambodia — 127.1% (2025)
- China — 32.59% (2025)
- Fiji — 70.62% (2025)
- French Polynesia — 38.74% (2024)
- Guam — 18.42% (2022)
- Hong Kong SAR, China — 371.02% (2025)
- Indonesia — 36.3% (2025)
- Japan — 33.68% (2025)
More private sector & trade data for Samoa
- Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$467 million (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$24 million (2025)
- Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 75.22% (2023)
- Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in East Asia & Pacific (% of total merchandise imports) — 24.62% (2023)
- Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports) — 0% (2023)
- Merchandise imports by the reporting economy (current US$) — US$462.21 million (2023)
- Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise imports) — 24.62% (2023)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Samoa's merchandise trade (% of GDP)?
- 38.12% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1970?
- It is down 3.9 percentage points from 42.03% in 1970. The highest value was 87.68% in 1992 and the lowest 35.37% in 1971.
- How does Samoa rank?
- 144th highest of 188 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in merchandise trade (% of GDP) unusual for Samoa?
- In 2025, Samoa's merchandise trade (% of GDP) fell 7.12 percentage points on 2024 (from 45.25% to 38.12%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.23 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.2 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TG.VAL.TOTL.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Trade Organization (WTO); World Bank GDP estimates, World Bank (WB); World Development Indicators, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
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